Process changes for identity sponsorships and requesting/provisioning Microsoft 365 licences

Thursday, February 13, 2025

What is happening? Three changes will be made to the current process for account/identity sponsorship and requesting and/or provisioning Microsoft 365 (M365) licences: 

  1. Effective Monday, March 3, the option to request M365 licences (including email access) while requesting an identity sponsorship will be removed. M365 licence requests must be submitted via the M365 License Request Page. 

    1. M365 licence requests for early account access for new hires will expire after three months. 

  2. Effective Monday, March 3, you will be able to view and manage M365 license sponsorships requested via the new M365 License Management Portal. 

    1. IST will assist in planning the migration of existing identity sponsors from Grouper to the new M365 License Management Portal; IT administrators will complete the actual migration.  

    2. All identity sponsorships will expire after one year.  

    3. Reminder emails will be sent to sponsors and any provided additional contact 30 and 7 days prior to expiration and can either be renewed via a link in the email, or through the portal. 

  3. Once the two above changes have been implemented, all IT administrators and service desk staff should avoid provisioning M365 licences on their own (i.e., adding or changing M365 Grouper group membership within their respective areas), and should instead: 

    1. Submit a request via the M365 License Request Page to maintain access to the accounts that still require this sponsorship.  
    2. IST staff will engage area/Faculty IT contacts to move active licences to the new system and remove licences that are no longer being used/needed.  
    3. Access to Grouper groups will be removed; a communication will be sent when the date for this change has been confirmed.  

Why are these changes being made? These changes will align M365 licence requests with the current processes for other client licences (e.g., Adobe, NVivo, Qualtrics) and provide a more streamlined and manageable process for identity sponsorships. It will also improve the ability to track and redistribute licenses as needed.  

Support resources: 

Questions or concerns? Please submit via the IST Help Portal.